I have just completed my project for Ron Jones House, a property run by Elim Housing to provide supported accommodation for adults in Stokes Croft, Bristol. Working with staff and residents we have transformed the communal lounge/IT room with colour and pattern on the floor, walls, windows and ceiling. Part Two will describe the general scheme, this post is about the pattern I designed for use across all the different materials in the room.
I wanted to design a repeating motif simplified from aspects of the place that I particularly liked - sunlight catching a plant in one of the nice old windows and a circles with stripes pattern on the gates (both shown above).
How the pattern developed - linking windows circles, sunlight & leaves in different formations.
Detail of the final design showing one repeat Floor design, to be laid in the centre of the room with a wide border
The existing carpet was particularly grotty, so the plan was to replace it with a patterned floor cut from 3 colours of linoleum laid in the centre of the room with the design growing in density towards the two windows. However, budgetary constraints intervened and in the end the new floor was laid with a simple but lovely linoleum and my pattern moved to the ceiling, walls and windows. You can see the layout of the room and the options we considered in the photo of just some of the models I made of the space below.
It was only when I printed the pattern out full size and placed it on the floor that I remembered what my initial inspiration must have been and dug out my photos from last year's trip to Ostia, the harbour city of Ancient Rome, and to Hadrian's Villa nearby. At both sites current excavations are revealing more buildings, many with black and white mosaic floors based on circles. Some of the most lovely patterns are the simple ones revealed in patches through concrete or grass.
Roman mosaics from Hadrian's Villa, Tivoli and Ostia Antica